MEDFORD -- A Chelmsford man was allegedly drunk behind the wheel when he struck and killed a highway worker early Tuesday morning on Interstate 93.

James Scoville, 31, was arraigned Tuesday in Somerville District Court on charges of motor-vehicle homicide while operating under the influence of liquor, operating under the influence of liquor, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, a marked-lanes violation and obstructing a stationary emergency vehicle, according to the office of Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.

Scoville was held on $2,500 bail and his license was suspended as an immediate threat to the public, the statement said. Judge Maurice Flynn also ordered Scoville not to drive or consume alcohol and to submit to alcohol screens.

James Scoville of Chelmsford was allegedly driving drunk.
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State Police identified the victim as Thomas O'Day, 52, of East Bridgewater. An employee of highway line-painting contractor Hi-Way Safety Systems, O'Day was on foot retrieving traffic cones on I-93 northbound near Exit 33 about 2:45 a.m. when he was struck and fatally injured by the 2012 Fiat 500 driven by Scoville. He was pronounced dead at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

His mother, Donna O'Day, also of East Bridgewater, told the Boston Herald her son was a father of six who worked double and triple shifts to support his family.

Scoville also slammed into a company truck, police said. A second worker, a 33-year-old Taunton man, was on the rear of that truck and suffered minor injuries.

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"At the time of the crash, a work-zone safety setup was in place, including safety cones, warning signs and two truck-mounted attenuator trucks with arrow boards in the setup -- one stationary at the beginning of the zone and one that was associated with placing/picking up the cones," the state Department of Transportation said in a statement to media outlets.

com the victim was part of a crew painting the solid-white edge line between the on- and off-ramps. She said Hi-Way Safety Systems Inc. has a districtwide pavement marking contract with the department.

In a statement, Hi-Way Safety Systems President and CEO Kathy DeLong said those at the company "are saddened and shocked by the events early (Tuesday) morning that claimed the life of one employee and caused injury to another." She said the company is working closely with State Police and other authorities to determine what happened.

"We take great pride in ensuring our employees are operating under safe, well- lit and clearly signed work sites while on the roadway," DeLong said in the statement. "In the meantime we are doing what we can to support both families."

The Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety & Health offered its condolences to O'Day's family in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

"Although reports state safety measures were in place, removing the cones is probably the most dangerous task, given that he is in the process of removing the safety precautions," MassCOSH Executive Director Marcy Goldstein-Gelb said in the statement. "Many highway projects occur at night to reduce traffic congestion, but this comes at the price of countless workers being put at risk due to reduced visibility on the road."

She noted that this was the second time in as many days that a highway worker was stuck by a vehicle.

On Monday, a MassDOT employee was seriously hurt after being struck by an alleged drunk driver in the Ted Williams Tunnel in Boston. The driver in that incident was charged with OUI.

O'Day was the 11th worker killed in transportation incidents this year, the MassCOSH statement said. Of them, seven were killed in traffic crashes and four were on foot and struck by moving vehicles and equipment. In 2015, transportation incidents took the lives of 23 workers in Massachusetts, up from nine in 2014.

Goldstein-Gelb said employers must do all they can to follow the Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices to keep workers safe.

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